I've been crossing my fingers for it to happen ever since your name was mentioned and today comes as a relief for me and many others.

I wasn't sure about the future of "The Hobbit" when it was announced that Peter couldn't direct due to other commitments. After all, he is the man who drove the whole trilogy from initial skepticism when it was first announced (and despite my longtime admiration for his early movies, I was among the skeptics!) to just plain awe when he delivered the movies unto the world.

I never dared to confront my "dreams" about the book to the dry reality of pictures and sounds, and yet I immediately got the class of feelings that belong to dreams when I stood in front of the silver screen.

And I believe that's exactly why you fit perfectly as the director for those two new movies. While I'm not fond of all your previous movies, I always noticed how dedicated you were to your work, how every details were fleshed out and each movie had its own soul. That's something highly respectable in nowadays volatile industry, where movies become more like products than art.

Furthermore, I value "El Espinazo del diablo" and "El Laberinto del fauno" as masterpieces of their own, perfect kaleidoscopes of fairy-tales and the bleak reality of our world. I am confident you will succeed in your new quest and overcome all the difficulties that lay ahead.

All my good luck wishes to you! And if you ever come to doubt the value of your choices regarding the movies, don't forget to refer to good old Professor Tolkien and his writings for advices. Let the books guide you to the world of dreams... Most of the riddles you will have to solve in your forthcoming work, were already solved by him ! (And no, I'm not talking about that riddle game thingie in a deep dark cave ;-)